This thread is only for those users with Intel HD Graphics AND hardware acceleration turned ON and are currently having drawing issues.
We are aware of some drawing issues associated with Intel HD graphics due to a bug in their graphics drivers. Various users have indicated that updating their graphics drivers to the very latest release from Intel has corrected any issues they have had.

Another option is to turn OFF Hardware Acceleration (HWA) in the Settings tab in the Manage dialog.

HWA.jpg

To update your Intel drivers, do the following:

*Note: Intel recommends checking with your device manufacturer first before installing their drivers to make sure any features or customizations are not lost.

Find the exact graphics driver installed on your system:

Open the Run dialog (Windows key + R), type dxdiag and press enter.

Select the Display tab. You may have more than 1 so make sure you select the correct one.

Type the name of your driver (from dxdiag) in the search box and click the search button.

intel.png

From the results, check whether your version is out of date. If so, download and install the latest driver.

If the problem persists, please report back to us. Make sure to include the name of your graphics driver, the version information from the Rainmeter About dialog, a simplified version of the skin you are using (just the relevant parts), and a screenshot of the skin.

Until a new graphics driver is available, please turn off hardware acceleration from the Settings tab in the Manage dialog (see picture above).

Sample skin

Here is a very simple test skin from user oZone (packaged by me) that demonstrates a drawing issue caused by a buggy Intel driver.

_Intel_1.0.rmskin

issue.png

As you can see, with HWA turned OFF, everything works as expected. With HWA turned on, there are some obvious drawing issues.

Known Intel HD graphics with drawing issues

Here is a list of Intel HD graphics that have had drawing issues, but the latest drivers are confirmed to fix the issue:

Intel(R) HD Graphics 4000

Intel(R) HD Graphics 520

Here is a list of Intel HD graphics that still have drawing issues, and we still need confirmation if the drawing issues are fixed:

Thanks for this, I was just about to post about the issues with RM not showing the background and the text not displaying, just as you've shown.
It's funny how these things always seem to coincide with me getting a new PC!

Last year I bought an expensive MSI laptop and had issues with File Associations not being recorded properly. Turned out to be Windows update 1803. Mow I just got a cheap media pc and get this happening!

It's quite impressive how far the internal graphics have improved! around 6/7 years ago I couldn't play Dolphin, now it plays well.

Thanks again for all the tips.

I used IOBit's Driver Booster to update my drivers. Need to do a restart now just to see if that helped, so...

EDIT: Restart complete. No improvement with driver updates so turned off option for Hardware acceleration. Issue solved, for now.